Corrected: September 20, 2011 4:45PM
A new survey of Texas from Public Policy Polling (D) finds that the state’s voters do not actually like Gov. Rick Perry, who is now a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president –Â but they like President Obama even less, and as a result Perry would be favored to carry the state in the general election.
The numbers: Perry 51%, Obama 44%. In the previous PPP survey from late June, before Perry was an actual candidate, Obama edged him by 47%-45% — and what’s more, a 59%-33% majority did not want Perry to even run for president. But now that he’s actually in the race, things appear to have changed.
Perry’s approval rating as governor in the new poll is only 45%, to 48% disapproval. However, Obama’s approval rating as president is even lower, at 40%-55%.
Obama was tested against other Republicans, with Mitt Romney leading by 47%-41%, and Perry’s fellow Texan Ron Paul edging Obama by 43%-42%. Obama narrowly leads Michele Bachmann by 45%-43%, and narrowly leads Newt Gingrich by 46%-41%.
The survey of registered voters was conducted September 15-18, and has a ±4.1% margin of error.
Texas has not voted Democratic for president since 1976, the year when Jimmy Carter was the South’s favorite son and carried nearly all of the region.
[Ed Note: This post has been corrected from an earlier version that misstated Romney’s performance against Obama in Texas. Romney tested ahead of Obama in the state.]
